Open Mouth, Insert Foot
by SCIFIsh
Summary: Based on a reallife experience... Darra, Tru, Anakin, and Ferus are cramped on a tiny ship with their Masters. Tiny quarters equals an interesting occurrence...


_-2200 hours-_

"Uggh…" Darra Thel-Tanis groaned and tried to twist into a better sleeping position, but to no avail. Sighing, she quietly lamented her situation.

She and her Master, Soara Antana, were headed back to the Temple with three other Master/Padawan pairs. They'd just finished a successful mission to Tatooine, but they'd had to leave Tatooine late at night, as to not attract too much attention. And worse, it was an all-night trip on a teensy-tiny, seven-person ship that now had to hold eight Jedi—not quite comfy. On top of it all, there was no heating mechanism, so they were basically frozen.

_Frozen sardines—that's us._

So, to make things fit, Masters Obi-Wan Kenobi and Siri Tachi were flying the ship, and she and her Master got to share two miniscule seats. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker, Tru Veld, and Ferus Olin crammed into the two seats behind them.

_Those lucky guys… they can sleep through anything._

And then there was Master Ry-Gaul—he got the seat in the very back of the ship all to his own self, of which he didn't too comfortably fit.

_But at least he gets more space than the rest of us…the lucky man._

So here she was, half-sprawled on top of her Master, and altogether uncomfortable. Her Master's elbow was in her lower back, a large bump—presumably her Master's shoulder—was in her neck, and she had to plant both feet on the floor to keep from sliding off the seat altogether.

_So much for "using each other as pillows"…_

She sat up—slowly, as to not wake her out-cold Master—and looked back again at the other three Padawans. Ferus had the left side and Anakin was as far to the right as he could get.

_Typical Anakin…_ She shook her head, her red hair fanning out in all directions. _He wants to get as far away from Ferus as he can…tsk-tsk. _

Then, what she saw next made her want to suppress a giggle. There was Tru, as contented as could be, _on top_ of the other two Padawans. Apparently, Tru got two humanoid pillows in exchange for being the Teevan blanket. Darra rolled her eyes in the semi-darkness and tried to get back to sleep.

XXX

Thump.

"Aack!"

Darra woke with a start. Something—something really heavy—had just landed on top of her chest, making it really, really hard to catch a breath. Whatever it was, it was only several centimeters away from her face, and whatever it was attached to had pinned down her right arm.

"Oomph!"

She tried to move, without waking her Master, but trying to move was useless. The thing—whatever it was—was firmly on her chest, and apparently with no intention of getting off.

"Fine," she muttered, "I'll find out what you are, first."

She tentatively poked the object, and finding it somewhat soft but not alive, proceeded to poke and prod it some more, to try to deduce what it was. After a few seconds, she found that it was about three centimeters taller than her hand was wide, had five little things protruding out of the top, was as wide as her hand, and connected to some fuzzy thing that extended into the seat behind her. On top of it all, there was a faint odor.

_Oh, EEW!_

She muffled a groan as she realized what it was. Tru's foot, un-booted and un-socked, was thrust into the gap between the seats and had landed firmly on her chest. Sighing, she grabbed Tru's foot with her left hand and tried to push it back to its owner. However, that didn't work—she'd only succeeded in lifting the foot maybe a centimeter before she had to let go.

_Stars! I never thought his foot could be this heavy!_

Fortunately, she'd managed to free her right arm in the process.

_Okay, let's try this again…_

This time, she grabbed Tru's foot and leg with both hands, and heaved upward.

"Uggh…"

Now that she was using both hands, the foot rose upward, and she could breathe normally again. But before she'd had the chance to get up, push Tru's foot back into its proper location and lie back down, her sleep-weakened fingers slipped and the foot dropped into her wide-open, gasping mouth.

"GGGHHHRRRRGGG!"

She was fully awake now. In desperate need of air, she grabbed the foot with both hands, shoved it upward, and sat up straight before dropping it again.

Gasping loudly and spluttering Tru-foot-germs everywhere, she looked back at her fellow Padawans. There was Tru, as serene as ever, sleeping peacefully on top of Ferus. And there was Anakin, totally oblivious, sleeping soundly on top of Tru's leg.

_Ah, no wonder his foot was so heavy_. 

Darra rolled her eyes again, shoved Tru's foot back in its proper place, and went back to sleep.

_I'll get them later…_

 **TBC by a sequel! **


End file.
